The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers [Paperback]

Scott Kelby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0321476735 | ISBN-13: 978-0321476739 | Edition: 1

Best-selling author Scott Kelby is well known for his plain-English style, his humorous tone, and his unparalleled ability to cut through all the technical jargon that other authors use when writing about image-editing programs. Here, Scott delivers great techniques on Photoshop Elements 5 that his readers understand and use to make the best possible images. With this newest release of Photoshop Elements, Scott shows readers how to work with their images like a pro, from importing to organization to correction to output. Readers will learn all they need to know about the digital photography workflow, as well as the latest secrets of the pros to help them create the best special effects, apply the most useful sharpening techniques, and avoid many of the hassles and problems that are encountered in digital photography (such as digital noise and color halos).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Kelby is Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User magazine, President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Executive Editor of the Photoshop Elements Techniques newsletter, and is technical chair of Photoshop World, the largest Photoshop gathering in the industry.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (November 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321476735
• ISBN-13: 978-0321476739
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Editor and Publisher of Photoshop User magazine, and a book author myself, having penned more than 30 titles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE..., May 4, 2007

By 

Anton Tobias (The vast cornfields of the Midwest) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers (Paperback)

Okay...let me start by saying that I can figure out computer software fairly easy. I'm no computer genius but whenever I install a new software program on my computer I simply give the supplied instruction manual a quick glance, toss it aside, then start clicking the mouse and punching the keys. Before long I've got the hang of it and all is well. That is until I installed Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0.

I felt dyslexic trying to figure this program out. I even did the unthinkable and returned to the instruction manual for guidance. Nothing helped. Even the simplest commands had me running in circles. While pulling my hair out I actually stopped for a minute to entertain a frightening thought. "This is just Photoshop Elements...a simpler more toned down version of Adobe Photoshop CS3." Despair quickly set in.

Needing serious help I sought the support of the Internet and it's many avenues for solutions. Needless to say it didn't take long before I was referred to "The Photoshop Elements 5 Book" by Scott Kelby. After reading just a few pages and trying out some of the techniques he mentions I began to build confidence. The book concentrates more on specific procedures and the simple steps to achieve them rather than the clichéd text book-written style of other books. For example, let's say you wanted to erase an unwanted object from a photo. You could simply look up "Cloning Away Unwanted Objects" in the glossary, flip to page 268, and follow the easy steps Mr. Kelby lists.

He cuts right to the problems at hand then tells you plain and simple how to solve them rather than getting into some mundane and long-winded explanations as to how the software works. I've found that by working with Photoshop Elements this way I learn at a much faster pace. By following the steps in this book the reader not only learns how to attain the fixes and effects he or she wants on their photos but acquires the knowledge to run the software as well.

Glossary Listings:

CHAPTER 1

Organized Chaos

Importing Your Photos

Backing Up Your Photos (on Disc or Online)

Creating A Contact Sheet

Dealing With The Welcome Screen

Importing Photos From Your Scanner

Automating The Importing Of Photos By Using Watched Folders

Changing The Size Of Your Photo Thumbnails

Seeing Full-Screen Previews

Sorting Photos By Date

Adding Scanned Photos? Enter The Right Time And Date

Finding Photos Fast By Month And Year

Tagging Your Photo (Tags Are Keywords)

Tagging Multiple Photos

Assigning Multiple Tags To One Photo

Tagging Images Of People (Face Tagging)

Combining (Merging) Tags

Sharing Your Tags (Or Collections) With Others

Collections: It's How You Put Photos In Order One By One

Choosing Your Own Icons For Tags (Or Collections)

Deleting Tags (Or Collections)

Seeing Your Photos Metadata (EXIF Info)

Adding Your Own Info To Photos

Finding Photos

Finding Photos Using The Date View

Seeing An Instant Slide Show

Comparing Photos

Comparing Photos By Zooming And Panning

Reducing Clutter By Stacking Your Photos

Putting Your Photos On The Map

CHAPTER 2

Raw Hide

Editing Your RAW Images in Camera Raw

Noise Reduction In Camera Raw

Sharpening Within Camera Raw

Bracketing With Camera Raw

Saving RAW Files In Adobe's Digital Negative (DNG) Format

Working With 16-Bit Images

Black And White Conversions In Camera Raw

CHAPTER 3

Super Size Me

Cropping Photos

Cropping Using The "Rules Of Thirds"

Auto-Cropping To Standard Sizes

Cropping To An Exact Custom Size

Cropping Into A Shape

Cropping Without The Crop Tool

Using The Crop Tool To Add More Canvas Area

Auto-Cropping Gang-Scanned Photos

Straightening Photos With The Straighten Tool

Straightening Crooked Photos

Resizing Digital Camera Photos

Resizing And How To Reach Those Hidden Free Transform Handles

Making Your Photos Smaller (Downsizing)

Rule-Breaking Resizing For Poster-Sized Prints

Automated Saving And Resizing

CHAPTER 4

Color Me Badd

Before You Color Correct Anything, Do This First!

Photo Quick Fix

Getting A Visual Readout (Histogram) Of Your Corrections

Color Correcting Digital Camera Images

Dave's Amazing Trick For Finding A Neutral Gray

Studio Portrait Correction Made Simple

Drag-And-Drop Instant Color Correction

Adjusting Flesh Tones

Warming Up (Or Cooling Down) A Photo

Color Correcting One Problem Area Fast!

Getting A Better Conversion From Color To Black And White

Correcting Color And Contrast Using Color Curves

CHAPTER 5

The Big Fixx

Fixing Overexposed Images

Removing Digital Noise

Focusing Light With Digital Dodging And Burning

Opening Up Shadow Areas That Are Too Dark

Fixing Areas That Are Too Bright

Fixing Photos Where You Wish You Hadn't Used A Flash

When You Forget To Use Your Fill Flash

Fixing Underexposed Photos

Automatic Red-Eye Removal

Instant Red-Eye Removal

Repairing Keystoning

Fixing Problems Caused By Your Camera's Lens

CHAPTER 6

The Mask

Selecting Square, Rectangular, Or Round Areas

Saving Your Selections

How To Select Things That Aren't Round, Square Or Rectangular

Softening Those Hard Edges

Selecting Areas By Their Color

Making Selections Using A Brush

Selecting Everything On A Layer At Once!

Getting Elements To Help You Make Tricky Selections

Easier Selections With The Magic Selection Tool

Removing Backgrounds

CHAPTER 7

Head Games

Quick Skin Tone Fix

Removing Blemishes

Lessening Freckles Or Facial Acne

Removing Dark Circles Under Eyes

Removing Or Lessening Wrinkles

Whitening The Eyes

Making Eyes That Sparkle

Enhancing Eyebrows Or Eyelashes

Coloring Hair

Whitening Or Brightening Teeth

Digital Nose Job

Transforming A Frown Into A Smile

Glamour Skin Softening

Slimming And Trimming

Removing Love Handles

CHAPTER 8

Take Me Away

Cloning Away Unwanted Objects

Removing Things In A Straight Line

Covering Unwanted Elements

Removing Spots And Other Artifacts

Removing Distracting Objects (Healing Brush)

CHAPTER 9

38 Special

Creating Drama With A Soft Spotlight

Burned-In Edge Effect (Vignetting)

Using Color For Emphasis

Soft Focus Effect

Changing An Object's Color

Replacing The Sky

Neutral Density Gradient Filter

Putting One Photo Inside Another

Simple Depth-Of-Field Effect

Creating Photo Montages

Creating The Classic Vignette Effect

Fake Duotone

Getting The Polaroid Look

Photo To Sketch In 60 Seconds Flat

Automated Pano Stitching With Photomerge

Converting To Black And White

CHAPTER 10

Get Back

Coloring Black And White Photos

Repairing Washed-Out Photos

Removing Spots And Other Little Junk

Removing Lots Of Specks, Dust, And Scratches

Repairing Damaged Or Missing Parts

Repairing Rips Or Tears

CHAPTER 11

Sharp Dressed Man

Basic Sharpening

Creating Extraordinary Sharpening

Luminosity Sharpening

Edge Sharpening Technique

Advanced Sharpening Using Adjust Sharpness

CHAPTER 12

The Show Must Go On

Watermarking And Adding Copyright Info

Creating Your Own Custom Copyright Brush

Poster Presentation

Creating A Digital Frame

Putting Your Photos Up On The Web

Getting One 5x7, Two 2.5x3.5, and Four Wallet-Size Photos On One Print

Using Picture Package Layouts With More Than One Photo

Creating a PDF Presentation For A Client

How To Email Photos

CHAPTER 13

Create (Or Die)

Creating With Your Photos

Making Full-Blown Slide Shows

Creating Postcards of Greeting Cards

Creating Photo Book Pages

Customizing Your Layouts With Just One Click

Creating Calendars

Creating A CD Or DVD Jacket, Or A CD/DVD Label

Creating A Video CD

Crating Your Own Photo Website

Ordering Prints With Just One Click

Creating Real, Usable Postage Stamps

Creating Your Own Custom Flipbook

CHAPTER 14

Anger Management

Configuring Your Camera For The Right Color Space

Configuring Photoshop Elements For Adobe RGB (1998)

Calibrating Your Monitor Using Adobe Gamma

Calibrating Your Monitor The Right Way

Downloading A Custom Profile For Your Printer

Printing (This Is Where It All Comes Together)

My Suggested Elements 5 Workflow

87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect!!, December 12, 2006

By 

Eloisa (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers (Paperback)

I stuggled with the Elements Classroom in a Book 4. I upgraded to Elements 5 because of the cool features. . .thinking another Classrooom Book. I read the reviews of this book. . .and liked the author from the Photoshop Elements website and decided to give it a try. It is absolutely the best book I have ever used to teach myself how to use a product. I learn something new--and easier--every page!!

I have never felt competent using layers. The use if this tool is incorporated through out the book. You learn by doing a technique- - -not wondering if you should use a layer. Very powerful.

The combination of the step-by-step narrative with the excellent illustrations make techniques I stuggled with easy.

Just buy it!

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I recommend another book..., May 25, 2007

By 

Cameron Highlander (Carolinas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers (Paperback)

I bought two books -- this book by Scott Kelby, and another book -- "Photoshop Elements 5 the Missing Manual" by Barbara Brundage.

After reading this book, I opened The Missing Manual book by Brundage. I never look back. The Kelby book shows you quick tips, but you are not learning the basics.

The Brundage book, teaches you from scratch, how Elements work. You will get a solid foundation to write a clone of the Kelby book.

The Missing Manual is not only a lot better, it is in a different league -- it is the standard all other Photoshop learning book should copy.

Get the Missing Manual. You will never regret learning a lot more.

I regreted buying the Kelby book. It is up for resale.